Maria Friedman, a longtime friend of Stephen Sondheim, teaches ‘Merrily We Roll Along’ to sing

By MARK KENNEDY
AP Entertainment Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — On opening night of the Broadway revival of “Merrily We Roll Along,” one person in the audience strangely wasn’t nervous — the director. Maria Friedman, who has helmed the show to seven Tony Award nominations, including for the three leads and her direction, says she felt completely calm. “Merrily We Roll Along,” the Stephen Sondheim-George Furth musical that flopped when it premiered on Broadway in 1981 has been given glorious life under Friedman’s touch. The show goes backward in time from 1976 to 1957 as it examines the friendship of three artists.